Whistleblower accused of false alarm

Imperial Sugar lawyers want report tossed

Posted: Tuesday, April 21, 2009

By RUSS BYNUM

SAVANNAH - Attorneys for one of the nation's largest sugar producers accused a whistleblower Monday of faking a report that he says he sent to company executives warning them of the dust hazard at a Georgia refinery days before a blast there killed 14 workers.

Lawyers defending Imperial Sugar in more than 30 lawsuits filed a motion in Chatham County State Court asking a judge to throw out the report and all testimony by Graham H. Graham because he "knowingly provided false testimony." Graham was vice president of operations at the Texas company at the time of the explosion.

Company attorneys said computer forensics experts hired by Imperial Sugar determined the report, which Graham says he forwarded to top company executives after he wrote it the week of Jan. 20, 2008 - 17 days before the explosion - actually was generated three days after the blast. They say Graham never sent the document to anyone other than his wife.

"They've made a mistake," Graham said Monday. "The allegations are wrong."

Investigators determined the Feb. 7, 2008, explosion at Imperial Sugar's refinery in Port Wentworth, a few miles west of Savannah, was caused by airborne particles of sugar dust that ignited like gunpowder. Dozens of workers were injured along with the 14 who died.

Graham, who lives in Houston, referred further questions to his attorney, Philip Hilder, who called the accusation a "maneuver by Imperial Sugar to continuously smear Graham Harris Graham."

However, Hilder declined to answer questions about when Graham wrote the report and whether he sent it to company executives.

"I can't comment directly on the forensics until I see them," Hilder said. "I have a lot of questions myself."

Mark Tate, a Savannah lawyer who represents the families of 11 victims suing Imperial Sugar, defended Graham as "the hero of this case."

Tate said Graham testified at an Oct. 14 deposition that several e-mails from before the explosion had vanished from his company laptop. Tate said he thinks Graham's computer had been tampered with, though he could not say by whom.

"He stood up and he said what was wrong at that plant," Tate said. "They're horrified that he told them the truth. And the truth that he told them leaves them open to criminal liability, not just civil."

The Occupational Health and Safety Administration proposed $8.7 million in fines against Imperial Sugar in July for safety violations at the Georgia refinery and another plant in Gramercy, La. The Sugar Land, Texas-based company is contesting the fines, the third-largest in OSHA's 40-year history. No criminal charges have been filed.

The disputed report is one in which Graham summarized a visit to the Georgia refinery, where he said he found dangerous accumulations of dust and other safety hazards that he told plant managers needed to be fixed.